In April 2018, Romanian consumer prices reached an annual inflation rate of 5.2%, the highest level since April 2013.
Consumer prices increased by 0.47% in May 2018, compared with April 2018, the data also showed.
Compared with May 2017, food prices grew 3.9%, non-food prices grew 7.7% and service prices grew 2.7%, according to INS data.
The annual average inflation rate calculated based on the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) stood at 4.6% in May 2018.
The average inflation rate of the last 12 months (June 2017 – May 2018), compared with the previous 12 months (June 2016 – May 2017), calculated based on the consumer prices index (CPI), stands at 3.3%. The average inflation rate calculated based on the HICP stands at 2.6%.
On May 9, 2018, Romania’s central bank raised its year-end inflation forecast to 3.6% from a previous projection of 3.5% but kept its end-2019 inflation forecast at 3%.
Early February 2018, the central bank revised its inflation forecast upwards to 5% from 3.9% for the first two quarters of the year and to 3.5% for the end of the year, from a previous projection of 3.2%. It now sees December inflation at 3.6%, expecting it to hover around 5% in the second and third quarters and then easing in the fourth quarter.